Nourishing Environments, Caring Cities
Gardening and the Social Reproduction of the Urban Environment in Deindustrial Michigan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2263166 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Megan Maurer (Earth Institute at Columbia University) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 716-737 |
| Publication date | 2020-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | City & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0893-0465 • E-ISSN: 1548-744X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ciso.12347 |
| OpenAlex | W3086458053 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 24 |
Through vegetable gardening, residents of a small city in Michigan, USA, are striving to make their urban environments more socially equitable and ecologically sustainable. While gardeners across differences of class and race are motivated by a desire to change their environments and educate others, they do so in distinct ways due to different priorities. These range from neighborhood upkeep to ecological sustainability, and variation aligns with existing, intersecting forms of class distinction and racial differentiation. To engage the shared desires for equitable and sustainable urban life motivating gardeners, together with the class- and race-based inequalities that shape and are shaped by their practices, this paper analyzes gardening as a form of social reproduction of the urban environment. Drawing on interviews and participant observation, this research examines the differences between gardens created for neighborhood upkeep as compared to those created for ecological sustainability, finding identifiable differences in gardening methods, spatial forms, and aesthetics directly related to gardeners' motivations as they are shaped by experiences of race and class inequality. As both climate change and public disinvestment in social reproduction continue, the experiences of these gardeners indicate the insufficiency of shared motivations in realizing needs for just sustainability, and the importance of recognizing and responding to manifestations of social and environmental inequality in gardening motivation and practice
Organic Food and Agriculture · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability · Urban Green Space and Health
A cultural ecosystem service perspective on the interactions between humans and soils in gardens
Social sustainability in private gardens – a scoping review
Cultural Attunements and Ecological Wellbeing
Greenwork
Reassessing (en)gendered responsibilities for care through community gardening in Aotearoa New Zealand
(Mis-)belonging to the climate-resilient city
Caring for life in common
Community gardens as feminist spaces
Battling Over Bathwater
The Insecure City
Abandoned in the HeartlandWork, Family, and Living in East St. Louis
Everyday Environmentalism
The Rise of the American Conservation Movement
In the Nature of Cities
Sisters of the Soil
Behind the Gates
Making a Good Life
Precarious Worlds
Cultivating Food Justice
Beyond “Culture”
Introduction
We will not perish; we’re going to keep flourishing”
Black Faces, White Spaces
Exposed
Going green to be seen
The Mushroom at the End of the World
Bringing good food to others
"Wiped Out by the "Greenwave
Valued Lives in Violent Places
From Servitude to Service Work
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,8 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |